Aplicaciones tecnológicas del CdTe

An overview of the results from study 1 and study 2 suggest that extrinsic motivation may be more readily observable and reportable at the contextual and more global levels of motivation (study 1), but at a more situational level of investigation, results show that intrinsic motivation changes from situation to situation (study 2). This could be related to an initial interest in the activity coupled with an immediate initial increase in competence (LaGuardia 2009), or because of the nature of the activity used in study 2. This activity, Pilates, is a non-competitive and largely self-directed activity which was used in study 2 to control the influences of success or failure outcomes commonly seen in sporting activities (Steinberg et al. 2001; Kilpatrick et al. 2003; Recours et al. 2004; Smith et al. 2006a).

The hierarchical model of motivation (see figure 2.2.6: p.19) shows that the basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness are antecedents for the global, contextual and situational levels of motivation (Vallerand, 2001; 2008). If it is accepted that intrinsic

motivation to accomplish aligns with goal setting, goal progress and goal achievement and extrinsic motivation for introjected regulation aligns with affect, then the results from study 1 and study 2 suggest that intrinsic motivation to accomplish and extrinsic motivation for

introjection may be more prone to change at the situational level. It is possible that this could be further extrapolated such that, goal striving and affect may be better and more important

antecedents for situationally motivated behaviour. Motivation to accomplish has been defined as the process of goal achievement rather than the actual outcome (Barkoukis et al. 2008; Gillet et al. 2009) and this could be related to accomplishment of the basic psychological needs. The literature suggests that these basic psychological needs are the most important drives and goals for all motivated behaviours (Heckert et al. 2000; Baumann and Kuhl 2005; Deci and Ryan 2000; 2008). Therefore, if autonomy, competence and relatedness are interpreted as goal striving, then the HMIEM would need to include affect as an antecedent as well as a consequence of motivated behaviour at the situational level.

Affect could be considered to influence the situational representation of an individual’s trait characteristics, manipulating individual’s opinions and judgements consistent with how they feel, thus affecting interpretation, decision making and ultimately effort and performance (Haddock et al. 1994; Gendolla and Krüsken 2002; Hareli and Weiner 2002; Linnenbrink and Pintrich 2002; Chatzisarantis et al. 2005; Rhodes et al. 2006; Smith 2006). Individuals who have reported high levels of neuroticism have also been found to report consistently high levels of

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negative affect. Literature suggests that traits control individual’s responses to situations (Steyer et al. 1999) unless the situation exerts an extremely strong influence on the individual to

override this (Ewen 2010). However, even where the situation manipulates the individual’s behaviour directly, the trait characteristics may still provide controlling parameters within which these behaviours occur (Hong and O’Neil 2001). Nevertheless, the resultant behaviours may operate at the extremes of the underlying representative traits which may not be instantly recognisable as the usual trait behaviour. Thus affect may influence the individual’s perception of the situation, which could be the most important aspect of this process (Rose et al. 2001) and this may occur prior to the onset of that particular situation. For example, the literature suggests that those high in positive affect tend to demonstrate less stress and higher levels of consistent performance than those experiencing negative affect (Gendolla and Krüsken 2002; Turnbull and Wolfson 2002; Pierro et al. 2006; Kramer and Yoon 2007; Otani et al. 2007).

Together, both the individual’s affect and the situation, influence the individuals need to accomplish through regulating the type of goals chosen, the difficulty of those goals and the importance of achieving those goals (De Raad and Schouwenburg 1996; Frederick and

Morrison 1999; Westenhoefer et al. 2004; Barnett 2006; Hannula 2006). This is not represented in the HMIEM and SDT unless it is implied through meeting the basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness (Deci and Ryan. 2000; 2008; Vallerand, 2001; 2008). Once situational behaviour has a focus the individual can direct their effort towards these goals and plan a strategy to maintain performance intensity for the duration of the task or activity (Gendolla and Krüsken 2002; Linnenbrink and Pintrich 2002; Sniehotta et al. 2005; Bindarwish and Tenenbaum 2006). It should also be noted that if the individual is high in neuroticism, demonstrates high negative affect prior to an ego orientated situation, then the goals selected may be more related to an avoidance orientation rather than to accomplish a task (Biddle et al. 2003). This avoidance focus has been shown to manifest in higher levels of reported

amotivation, which can lead to a reduction in motivation for that activity and a corresponding increase in negative affect whilst participating (Turnbull and Wolfson 2002). Eventually this combination of low motivational intensity and high negative affect, may result in the individual withdrawing their effort from performance either temporarily or permanently.

Hardy and Gustavo (2005) suggest that at the global level, motivation is sourced more through the individual’s morals and values but at the situational level cognition and emotions may function as primary sources of motivation. Smith (2006) and Westenhoefer et al. (2004) suggest that increased negative affect may alter motivation, effort and performance altering the

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immediate interpretation of the situation causing further fluctuation in performance. Barnett (2006), Chatzisarantis et al (2005), Jones (2003) and Rhodes et al (2006) agree that affect may influence the individual’s decision to select and expend effort on an activity. Further literature agrees that initial positive and negative affective states experienced prior to performance are very influential on overall success or failure of performance (Ogden and Whyman 1996; Covassin and Pero 2004; Fazackerley et al. 2004; Papaioannou et al. 2004).

It could be that, as mentioned above, situational motivation is linked to a concept of motivational intensity; defined as a momentary magnitude of motivational arousal, where motivational arousal is actual behaviour (Brehm and Self 1989). Within this concept there is a need to regulate motivational intensity across periods of time (Brehm and Self 1989) dependant on the nature of the activity or task undertaken, how important it is to achieve that task and how much effort is needed versus how much effort is available to direct towards the activity or task. Therefore, it is suggested that task difficulty, coupled with immediacy of the task will influence affect which in turn will mediate motivational arousal for the task (Brehm et al. 2009).

Furthermore, as the task progresses, the perceptions of task difficulty will alter, manipulating affect which may then change levels of motivational arousal causing fluctuations in situational motivation and intensity (Brinkmann and Gendolla 2007).

The proposed concept above takes into account the situational components of behaviour. However, the influence of individual characteristics may also alter behaviour. Individuals reporting high neuroticism scores have been found to experience situations more intensely (Robinson and Tamir 2005; Robinson et al. 2007; Buckingham 2008; Borja et al. 2009; Lahey 2009; Prinzie et al. 2009), and this is certainly the case where those situations are perceived as negative (Olson and Weber 2002; Deponte 2004; Robinson et al. 2005; Tamir 2005). Indeed high levels of neuroticism have been related with high anxiety (Judge and Ilies 2002). However, this should not be thought of as a debilitative relationship, as those reporting high neuroticism and using effective self-regulation skills have reported enhanced performance (Robinson and Tamir 2005; Tamir 2005; Barnett 2006;). Whilst self-regulation for these highly neurotic individuals may improve performance, it is still expected that as an activity becomes

progressively more difficult, those high in neuroticism may show more fluctuation within their levels of situational motivation intensity.

The future direction for studying the process of situationally specific motivation will use original methodology to measure situational motivation, affect and goal accomplishment during

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activity. Previous studies have only measured situational motivation immediately before and after activity. Furthermore, the literature does not suggest how long the concept of situational motivation lasts for. Where findings from study 1 and 2 have suggested that situational motivation is influenced by affect, this may result in short lived levels of motivation for that activity. All of the research to date has measured motivation before and after an activity, there is no research which maps motivation during an activity. Therefore, much of the literature

discussing situational motivation can only allude to the processes occurring during performance.

In this thesis, recording motivational fluctuations within the situation or activity reflects a move away from measuring motivation only at the pre or post activity stage. The literature regarding both the type of motivation (quality) and the intensity of motivation (quantity) suggest that individuals demonstrating a high quantity of motivation outperform those individuals who have good quality but slightly less quantity of motivation (Lavigne et al. 2009; Vansteenkiste et al. 2009). This implies that using a measure of motivational intensity during performance could equate with the concept of quantity of motivation as this includes all types of motivation. Furthermore, the potential influence of affect on motivational intensity and the need to regulate this intensity throughout the duration of the activity (Brehm and Self 1989; Brehm et al. 2009) provides a link between situational motivation and regulation of performance.

If situational motivation is about directing effort and intensity towards performance (Heckert et al. 2000; Locke and Latham 2002; Moreira et al. 2002), it is anticipated that affect and goal striving also play a part in the regulation of performance. How the individual is feeling and what they intend striving towards during the activity, seem to be important indicators of performance (Elliot and Harackiewicz 1994; Wentzel 1999; Downie et al. 2006). Indeed the concept of goal discrepancy, where performers become more certain of goal success or failure as the activity progresses, can stimulate more effort if the goal is within reach or less effort if the goal is irredeemable (Donovan and Williams 2003; Schmidt and DeSchon 2007; Hatzigeorgiadis and Biddle 2008). However, for those less certain of goal achievement until the later stages of performance, increases in effort or motivational intensity may be too late to affect goal outcome (Kernan and Lord 1990; Gano-Overway 2008). Hence, this conception of situational motivation could be construed as part of an overall pacing strategy which is part of a self-regulatory process (Campion and Lord 1982). The pacing strategy, similar to motivational intensity, suggests that individuals must regulate their intensity and effort across the situation to ensure consistent performance and goal accomplishments (Venter 2008; Amodio 2009). As goal accomplishment

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is linked to instances of increased positive affect it is expected that this would then serve to further enhance future performance (Kanfer and Ackerman 1996 in DeShon et al. 1996).

Progress towards a goal may also influence an individual’s level of motivation towards that activity therefore, study 3 will also measure motivation using a perception of goal achievement during continuous activity to ascertain how this process of goal achievement and motivational profiles may influence performance in a competitive activity. Thus the focus for study 3 will include changes in goal progress, goal confidence and affect during an activity. This may help practitioners understand what influences motivational focus and intensity and at what point during performance the individual needs to use their internal self regulation strategies or when they may be more receptive to and in more need of external, positive and encouraging feedback to enhance performance.

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